ABSTRACT
Writing about a phenomenon that is common in many societies, including those of the intended readership, presents particular problems. Unless one carries out explicitly comparative studies, the reader cannot assess what is particular and what is general to the phenomenon you are describing. The ethnographic description encompasses all: aspects common to many different societies, aspects peculiar to the one you are describing and aspects idiosyncratic to the context in which the reported material was collected. The phenomenon described in the following pages is thus one that is not particular to Sweden, nor to the forest town where the observations were made. It captures the Swedish version of the ‘subarctic vodka belt’, one that prevails in many cultures where beer and distilled ‘white spirits’ are the traditional media for social drinking and intoxication. The question of what is unique and what is general cannot be resolved without a comparative context.
